Just Lost
by Flaming Crow
Summary: I suck at summaries. Primrose everdeen feels guilty that Katniss and Gale do so much for her, so she asks them to take her into the forest. But how will Prim cope with everything, and who are these strange people lost in the forest? Not to mention the strange Mockingjay. ONE-SHOT. Characters are a little OCC but I do what I want.


**Hullo people of earth and beyond. This is my second fanfic ever. My first one kinda failed so I don't know how this one is gonna turn out. This is before Katniss volunteers for the Hunger Games and its Prim's POV. Enjoy, and ****may the odds be **_**ever**_** in your favor****. **

"_What is it, Thor?"_

"_In my realm there is something called infinity gauntlet and it is very powerful. It has six gems; the mind gem, the soul gem, the space gem, the power gem, the time gem, and the reality gem. Each one has special powers. I believe this is either the Time Gem or the Space Gem."_

"_Well that can't be good."_

FCFCFCFCFCFCFCFCFCFCFCFCFCFC FCFCFCFCFCFCFCFCFCFCFCFC

I sit there, devouring my share of the wild turkey that Katniss caught. Usually she would have brought it to the Hob, the black market, for trading, but it is November so she brought it home for Thanksgiving.

Every time she catches game and cleans it, she feeds the entrails to my cat, Buttercup. I'm glad that she does that because he doesn't always catch mice everyday.

I look over at Katniss, who is still wearing her hunting jacket and boots.

I have to say, I feel a little bad that I can't help her with hunting. Gale helps her, of course, but maybe I can help with gathering herbs for Mother.

I remember the first time she took me in the woods. The place terrified me, and I couldn't help wanting to heal the game she shot. But I'm a bit older now. I'll just turn away when she shoots and I can pick herbs for us. Katniss and I know a lot about herbs, though Gale doesn't know a thing about them. So maybe I can help.

"Uh, Katniss?" I begin. She wipes her mouth, "Yes?"

I twiddle with my fingers and continue, "I've been thinking for a while and I was wondering if I could try and go out in the forest again." Katniss stares at me for a few seconds then says, "Of course. Do you want me to teach you how to hunt?"

I shake my head, "No, no, just finding herbs and climbing and stuff like that. Maybe even how to set snares."

Katniss huffs and stabs a piece of turkey with her fork, "You're going to have to ask Gale to teach you how to do that. But I'll teach you the how to climb if you want."

"Thanks, Katniss."

Mother speaks up, "I'll milk the goat for you while you're gone." She offers. I smile and nod.

I am thankful for all they do for me. Katniss and Gale hunt. Mother heals to make money. And me… the best thing I do is milk my goat, Lady. But tomorrow morning, I'll be able to do much more.

After we finish dinner, I help Mother with the dishes. Any left over food gets saved for the next day. Buttercup hops onto the counter and licks specks of food off of the plates. I smile and scratch him behind his ears and he purrs happily.

"Alright," Katniss comes up behind me and takes the plate I am scrubbing, "that's enough little duck. I'll take it from here. You go to sleep." She kisses my forehead and bids me good night.

I hug her before walking to my room. My sheets are old and wrinkled from all the nightmares that I've had. Every so often I will have one about my father being blown up in the mines. I know Katniss has a lot of those. I climb into my bed and curl up under the sheets.

Sleep doesn't come easy. I have a weird feeling about going in the forest tomorrow. It's mostly a bad feeling, but there's a little good just edging its way in.

It confuses me. But I already said I was going to go into the woods tomorrow, and I won't back out. I stay up for a couple of hours, but eventually I give into sleep.

_Morning _

I wake up to see Buttercup in front of me, meowing. I yawn, scoop him up, and walk out of my room. Poking my head outside, I see it is dawn.

The sun is creeping up over the horizon, making the usually grey sky pink. Birdsong fills the air. It is a beautiful day. Perfect.

I hear shuffling behind me and see Katniss in her hunting cloths and carrying her game bag. She gives me a half smile and says, "You should put on some strong shoes. Boots if you have some."

I nod, put down Buttercup, and put on some boots. They aren't as strong as Katniss's but they're good enough. She waits for me at the door. "Are you sure you want to do this again?" I nod and open the door.

Katniss takes off silently towards Gale's house. When we get there, he's already waiting outside. Gale smiles at Katniss, and then gives me a confused look. "Prim wants to go into the forest again." Katniss explains. Gale nods and we set out towards the District fence.

The feeling returns, neither good nor bad. But I ignore it, though once in a while I glance over my shoulder.

The District fence looms over us. Barbed wires line the top. Katniss pauses and it takes me a few seconds to realize that she's listening for the electric hum in the fence. I listen and hear nothing. As Gale and Katniss help me get under a weak spot in the fence, my heart pounds in my ears.

I remember the first time I was here. The tall, shadowy trees. The way game falls dead to the ground when Katniss shoots it. No, no, I'm not thinking of that. Besides, Katniss is just showing me how to do stuff. It'll be fun.

Before we walk into the forest, Katniss whispers in my ear, "Try to move silently. Don't put too much weight on twigs and leaves or they'll snap."

"Ok." I whisper back. I watch as Katniss retrieves a bow and arrows from a fallen tree.

She turns to Gale, "Why don't you check the snares for game? I want to teach Prim to climb." He looks a bit disappointed but gives her a curt nod and says, "Sure thing, Catnip." Before taking off. I cock my head at Katniss, "Why are you teaching me to climb first?"

"As we go deeper in the woods, we can run into a pack of wild dogs. I want you to be able to climb out of their reach while Gale and I chase them away." Katniss walks up to a willow tree. "Watch."

She puts one foot on a root and before I know it, she's half way up the trunk. Her hands grip the knots in the trunk and she reaches the first branch. I watch as she shows me how to move from branch to branch until she finally climbs back down. The leaves crunch under my feet as I walk to the willow and I remind myself to walk more quietly.

Katniss shows me the first knot to reach for. Taking a deep breath, I begin to climb. Turns out, its pretty easy. I struggle up the first part of the trunk but it gets easier as I make my way up. My hands easily find the knots and bumps and when I reach the branches, I'm barely panting. I looked down to Katniss for approval. She gives me a thumbs up.

"Now, since you're smaller than me," Katniss says, "you can climb up to higher branches. They can hold your weight but don't go too high." I look up at the higher branches. There are a few good thick ones, but the higher they go, the skinnier they get.

After a while of climbing, I come down just as Gale reappears with empty hands. "Nothing." He grumbles. Katniss, who was checking my hands for scrapes, looks over her shoulder and asks, "What happened?" Gale shrugs, "I think some rain last night might've loosened my snares."

Hmm. That's strange. Katniss says that Gale's snares work even in the rain. "Bad luck?" I suggest. Katniss grabs her bow and says, "I'll have to shoot some game." I stiffen. Uh oh.

"I'm gonna stay behind when you spot some." She nods and we set out in silence.

The leaves barely rustle as we walk, even though it's fall. Suddenly, something black flashes over my head. I immediately look up and I see a black and white bird. It looks at me and I realize that it's a mockingjay.

A long time ago, the cruel Capitol created mutations called jabberjays, a male bird that could record entire human conversations. They used them to spy on their enemies, but eventually their enemies found out about the birds and began giving false information. So the Capitol set them free to die. But before they became extinct, the jabberjays mated with female mockingbirds and created mockingjays. They can repeat any tune or song.

The mockingjay flies away and I sigh.

Along the way, I pick a few herbs for Mother's clinic. Katniss and I know about every herb and all there is to know about it. Well, I think we do. I sort through the ones I have in my little pouch that I brought. Marigold. Comfrey. Goldenrod. Juniper berries. Not much, but good enough.

Soon, we reach a small river where we sit down and take a break. I look at Katniss and Gale. "This is pretty fun." I say. Gale smiles and gives me a light pat on the head.

The river flows by lazily. I see a few small fish here and there and try to catch them. I doubt that they could make a good meal so I just bat at them as they pass. Katniss lets out a soft laugh and says, "Don't fall in little duck." I look up at her. She had laughed. I rarely hear her laugh. Back at home, there's not much to laugh about, with life being so miserable.

But here in the forest… I think anyone would laugh more here. Gale seems to notice my surprise and says, "I think Catnip smiles and laughs here more than anywhere." I smile and nod in agreement. Then I see something strange in the mud next to me. I narrow my eyes. It looks like two tear drop shaped holes in the ground. Beneath each one is a little dot.

I nudge Gale and point to the holes, "What is that?" Gale studies it for a moment, then his eyes widen and he says, "Deer tracks." Katniss looks up, "Really? Lets get it." she grabs her bow and stands up. Gale gets out a knife and also stands. I hesitate. I really don't want to see them kill a beautiful deer.

Katniss looks at me. "Its okay. You don't have to come." She says, "Just stay here." I let out a sigh of relief and shift my position on the rock. Katniss nods to Gale and they both start tracking the deer. I watch them until they fade and I turn back to the river. I lazily poke the small fish that float by. They dart away and I sigh and stand up.

I look around the forest floor for herbs, but I stay near the river. As I search, I see a feather.

A black and white feather.

A _mockingjay_ feather.

Who would kill a mockingjay? I don't think any animal has a taste for them. I see a couple more feathers a few feet away from me and I go to them. Then I see more and more. It is a trail of feathers. Cautiously, I follow it. That's when I hear something.

It sounds like voices. I look up. Nothing moves or rustles. The branches above me sway in the wind and shake my head. It's probably nothing.

"_Hurry up, Tony!"_

There it is again! This time I stand up and look around.

"_Hold up, I'm not used to traveling like this!"_

"_None of us are."_

My head darts in the direction of the voices. Slowly, I tip toe towards it, not making a sound. As I get closer, the voices get louder.

Suddenly I see a flash of pale skin and I hide behind a bush. I peek out and see a group of seven people standing a few yards away from me. I instantly think of the Capitol.

One man has dark skin and an eye patch over his left eye and is wearing black cloths. Another one has tanned skin and black hair. Then there was a woman with short red hair. Though they aren't the ones I'm worried about. The other three are tall and look strong. The biggest one has long blond hair and the second has short wavy blond hair. The other big one has short and somewhat spikey blond hair. I notice that this one has a bow and a quiver of arrows. The bow, though, looks very high tech and… Capitol-like.

As I try to get a look at the seventh one, the man with the bow turns and looks in my direction. I quickly pull my head back behind the bush and pray that he doesn't find me. He must have very good eyesight because he takes a step towards me, "Hey… hey!"

My heart thuds against my chest and I run in the opposite direction. I hear them running after me and I run as fast as I can.

I remember what Katniss says about what the punishment is for hunting in the forest. Whipping. Torture. _Death_. The forest blurs around me and I scream, "KATNISS! KATNISS HELP!"

Through all the blur, I make out a maple tree. Despite the pain in my sides from running, I scramble up the tree as fast as I can and climb up to the highest branch that would take my weight.

I gasp for breath and look down. The people seem surprised that I could climb but before they can make any attempt to climb after me, an arrow whizzes past them. Katniss and Gale crash through the bushes.

"Get away from her!" Katniss yells. She looks furious.

She has her bow locked and is pulling the string back hard. Gale has a knife in both hands and they stand in front of the tree. The people closest to them jump back. The man with the bow has it locked on Katniss. Silence engulfs everyone.

I get a closer look at the people. They seem hurt. The one with tanned skin has a nasty cut on his leg and the man with the bow has another on his shoulder. The others have cuts of all kinds too.

They all, including Katniss, have some sort of unreadable expression on their face. Finally Katniss asks, "Who are you?"

Silence.

"Answer me." she growls. Nobody says anything. Gale speaks up. "Are you with the Capitol?" he asks. The man with the eye patch says in a deep voice, "No, what's the Capitol?" I see Katniss relax a bit, but only a bit. It could be a trick.

My heart has stopped beating fast and as I watch them, I get a weird feeling. It's kind of like the one I get when I see sick people. I want to help them. But there's another feeling and I don't know what it is.

I hear rustling in the branch next to me and I see the mockingjay again. It's missing a few feathers from its wing and I realize, it's the same one. We stare at each other. Did it lead me to them? If so, then why? I think I know the answer, but it doesn't seem possible. The mockingjay flashes its white feathers under its wing, then flies away.

I look back down and say shakily, "Uh, guys? I…. I think they're ok." The woman with the red hair and the man with the eye patch look at me. Katniss doesn't answer so I continue, "I think they're just lost. They don't look like they'd come from Panem."

Katniss still has an arrow locked on the man with the bow and he has one locked on her. "Lower your bow." She says in an almost unrecognizable voice.

The man keeps his bow up so I say, "How 'bout you both lower your bows?" They keep them up. I sigh and start to climb down, "Stay up." Katniss says. I ignore her and climb all the way down.

Gale immediately steps in front of me. I sigh, "Why don't you ask them a few questions and then lower your bow. I really don't think they're with the Capitol."

I hear Katniss let out an irritated sigh, "Who are you?" they don't say anything. "Answer me or I'll shoot!" she growls.

"Katniss!" I whine. The red headed woman narrows her eyes, "Katniss?" Katniss glares at me.

"Oops."

"Alright," she grunts, "you know my name, now tell me yours."

The man with the bow looks at the one with the eye patch, who nods, then says, "I go by the name of Hawkeye." Hawkeye? I've never heard of a name like that. Children are usually named after a type of plant or animal. I'm named after the flower primrose and Katniss is named after the water root.

Whoever this 'Hawkeye' is he's definitely not from Panem. The people that are with Hawkeye introduce themselves.

The tanned man with the cut on his leg is called Tony (another name I don't understand). The red headed woman 'goes by the name of' Black Widow (I hate spiders). The big man with the long blond hair is called Thor and the other blond is called Steve (ok these people have really weird names) The man with the eye patch, who apparently is their leader, is called Director Fury. Then there's the seventh person who I was trying to see before they chased me.

He has wavy, dark grey hair and strange clear things over his eyes. I think they're called glasses. His name is Bruce.

I finally get Hawkeye and Katniss to lower their bows, though they're still tense. Gale, who hasn't said much in a while, asks, "How'd you get hurt?" The cut on Hawkeye's shoulder looks deep and Tony's leg is bleeding.

"We got attacked by a pack of wild dogs." Steve says. "We chased them away, of course." Tony adds and Steve glares at him. I brighten up. I could heal them. Attacked by a pack of wild dogs? My specialty.

"I can help with that." I say brightly. I bounce past Katniss. "Uh, Prim." She warns. I take Hawkeye's hand (he looks quite startled) and I lead him back to the small river. The others pause for a second, then follow. I bring Hawkeye onto a flat rock. "Sit please." I order. He glances at his friends then sits down.

I take off my pouch and spread out the herbs. Studying the wound for a moment, I take the marigold and goldenrod. Snagging a few leaves off a bush and washing them in the river, I squeeze the juices onto them. I chew up the rest and put it on the leaves so it would stick. Then, after cleaning it, I put the leaves on the wound. I pat it and look up.

Everybody's staring at me.

"What?" I ask. Katniss and Gale start doing whatever, but the others keep staring at me.

Bruce walks up and asks, "Where did you learn that?"

I blush."Well," I begin, "my mother heals people for a living. I like to help her when sick or injured people come. She keeps this book about herbs." I make Hawkeye stand and bring Director Fury over and make him sit. I call over to Katniss, "Can you put some cobwebs on Tony's leg?" Katniss nods and goes off to find cobwebs.

I check Director Fury over, but he doesn't seem that hurt. I heal any minor scratches that he has and make small talk with the others while I work.

Katniss returns a few moments later with cobwebs and a squirrel. A clean kill, right in the eye. She sits down with the group and says, "It won't feed all of us, but I'll catch more later." I try not to look as she cleans it in the river and skins it, though once in a while my eyes dart towards the squirrel.

Then I remember something. I look at Katniss and Gale and ask, "What happened to the deer?"

Katniss stops and their eyes widen for a moment. Gale quickly gets up before Katniss and says, "I'll get it." he takes off. A few minutes later, he comes back with a small buck. Together they start to clean and gut it so I look away.

I scoot over to Tony, who is already sitting down, and press the cobwebs on his leg. "Sorry." I say when he winces. He shakes his head, "It's ok."

I smile and slowly take off the cobwebs and clean the wound with water. I frown. It doesn't look like something that would come from a wild dog. I lightly trace the wound with my finger. It's curved and has a bunch of other little scratches around it.

I look at Tony and ask, "Did this come from the wild dogs?"

He shakes his head, "I stepped in some weird snare thing. It was connected to a tree and lifted me up into the air. Luckily Leg- Hawkeye here shot the string. Though I didn't appreciate the rough landing." He adds with a glare at Hawkeye.

Katniss and I look at Gale, whose face is full of guilt. "How was I supposed to know he would step in it?"

Steve looks at Gale. "You made that?" he asks in awe. Gale nods, "I make the snares. Catnip shoots. And Prim heals." I smile as he says, "I guess we're our own little team."

We're all sitting now. I'm running low on herbs and the cobwebs don't stop the bleeding for long.

But when I start to get up, Hawkeye nods to Katniss's bow and asks, "Archery?"

Katniss stiffens a bit and says, "What about it?" I sit back down. This is going to be interesting. Hawkeye asks, "Are you good?"

"I'm okay."

"She's the best!" I say. He looks at me, then back at Katniss, "Prove it." Katniss sighs and gets up. She grabs her bow and locks an arrow in it. Then she turns to me and asks, "What should I shoot?"

I scan the area and see a berry bush. I run to it and pick a berry, and then I remember the mockingjay feathers. I take them out of my pouch and stick the nubs into the berry. The others watch me and when I finish, the berry has a bunch of black and white feathers around it. I turn around and show it to them. Then I carefully place it on a knot in a tree.

Katniss rolls her eyes. "You just have to choose a small target." I giggle and say, "It'll be easy. You always hit it in the eye."

I step out of the way and she pulls the string. She pauses for a moment then lets go and the arrow hits the berry right in the center. The force causes it to fall to the ground and, for some reason, I flinch when I see the feathers get crushed.

I quickly act like it never happened and give Katniss a hug while the others applaud.

Director Fury has an impressed look on his face and I wonder what he might be thinking.

Gale makes a small fire and I sit down next to Tony again and examine his leg. It's still bleeding a bit and I see a couple of flies trying to get to it. I don't think cobwebs will work on this and I'm almost out of herbs.

I turn to Katniss and say, "I'm going to have to use some of Mother's bandages for Tony's leg." She nods and gets up, "Do you want me to get some?" I shake my head and say, "I'll get it."

"Ok, but be careful." I nod and sprint away towards the fence. Getting there was the easy part. Getting the bandages without mother noticing was another story. I quickly slide under the fence and run back home.

Before I enter though, I peek through a small window (we don't have many) and I see Mother in the kitchen. She keeps her medicine and herbs in another room if I could just get there without her noticing….

As quietly as I can, I tip toe into the house through the back door. I sneak into the room with her medicine and slowly open the cabinet. Herbs, herb mixes, no bandages. I frown and open another cabinet. Ah ha! There they are! I grab one and quietly stuff it in my pouch. I close the cabinet doors and tip toe out of the room. I'm almost at the back door when the floor creaks. Shoot!

Mother comes out of the kitchen and sees me. "You're back early." She says, clearly surprised, "I thought you were with Katniss and Gale."

Think fast and cover quick.

"I-I was. But then Katniss said that she forgot something so I came back to get it." I lie. I hate lying to Mother. It makes me feel bad because she does so much for Katniss and me. Mother nods and asks, "Did you catch anything?" I nod and smile, "They're tracking a deer." Another lie.

I don't know if Katniss will feed the others (I'm just going to call that group the others) the deer and I don't want to promise Mother a deer if we come back with nothing.

"I better get going." I say. We bid each other goodbye and I walk out of the house. Phew! I pratically deflate with relief. That was close. I run back to the fence, slid under, and run into the forest. On the way to the small river, I pick a few more herbs. Now refilled, my small pouch is so full that I can barely pull the top over it.

When I reach them, they're sharing the now cooked deer and chatting.

Katniss smiles when she sees me and asks, "Did you get some?" I nod, "Yep." I sit next to Tony and clean the wound again. The bleeding has stopped and I take out the bandage. I crush a few herb juices onto it and carefully wrap it around his leg. He lets out a sigh and thanks me.

I smile and Katniss gives me some cooked deer meat. "Catnip and I were just explaining the Hunger Games to them. We already told them about Panem." Gale says.

Thor shakes his head, "Who could be so cruel as to make children fight to the death?" I bite into the meat and say, "The Capitol."

Turning to Katniss, I ask, "You told them about it, right?" she nods.

I sigh, then ask the others, "So what's your story guys?"


End file.
